


Wishes

by TabooCat (SkyTheLoner)



Series: Spiders and Yew [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Cats, Crushes, Daydreaming, Gen, Guards, One-Sided Attraction, Princes & Princesses, Royalty, Short One Shot, Wishful Thinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 05:51:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16696669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkyTheLoner/pseuds/TabooCat
Summary: Thorn can't help but hope she's chosen to be the prince's lover.





	Wishes

Thorn had finally gotten hope when she saw him on one sunny afternoon, flanked by his guard and watching the crowd of cats move around him, though most, including herself, stared in awe at the tomcat.

The tom was something like a paragon in Thorn's eyes, with his green gaze shifting back and forth through the crowd. His sleek grey pelt shone an amber color in the setting sun, and his body was lean and fit. The prince's ears swerved around, taking in every sound around him, and one of his guards shifted to his right as a few of the mollies took a few steps too close. This was one of the rare times the regal heir was allowed to travel into the outskirts of the kingdom. The group walked down a cobblestone pathway, passing numerous buildings along the way, and the crowd followed him.

His guard suddenly fanned out as they neared the stage.

One of the toms beside him bounded up the wooden stairs, onto the platform, his pawsteps making  _thump-thump_ noises as he padded across it. The dark brown tom cleared his throat, shouting, "Silence!"

The crowd's chattering suddenly died down, and Thorn wondered if he was the prince's head guard.

The grey tom beside him cringed slightly and whispered something to one of his other guards, who snickered silently. The others in his royal guard rolled their eyes.

She refocused her attention on the tom as he continued with, "The king has sent me to deliver a message to the common folk."

Thorn tilted her head, confused. She certainly wasn't a commoner, why hadn't she heard any news about... whatever this was? An elderly molly beside her muttered something foul sounding to her partner, which summed up as: "Why are we always the last ones to hear the important stuff?" Her partner nodded.

The tom on the stage continued on. "The eldest sons of our queen will be coming of age soon, and will soon married. An acceptable noble will be chosen and checked for deformities and diseases, and if found acceptable, could be chosen to marry one of the princes.

"The princes, such as Yew-" Here he flicked his tail to the prince, who ducked his head, clearly uncomfortable with the eyes training on him. "-will be helping to bring many litters of kits into the world. The kingdom will continue to prosper!"

At the end of his announcement, a few cheers rang out from the crowd, but other than that, the cats were silent.

"It's not like  _we're_  going to be chosen or anything," muttered a cat beside her. Thorn couldn't blame her. While the news was defiantly great - she glanced back up at the prince - the choosing of a mate for the princes wasn't something most commoners were interested in. Still, who could say more royal heir was a bad thing? The queen's younger sons had been sick, and the princess had yet to chose a mate, so the princes' marriage would be great for the kingdom.

The prince's guard had already began to leave the stage; the prince glanced around with his elegant green gaze, his mouth open to draw in the scents around him. With a flick of his sleek tail, the tom disappeared into the crowd.

Thorn stared at the group of cats as they walked away, their heads held high - with the exception of the prince, who ducked his head, his ears on his head. She had seen the tom several times before, like at a few royal dances, and while it had taken a while for her feelings to become strong enough to be called a crush, she was now certainly smitten for him.

She had always felt a bit nervous around him, passing it off a anxiety about meeting a member of the royal family, but now...

Oh stars...

Because at first it was admire, and then it exploded into a flat out crush.

She closed her eyes for a few moments, inhaled and exhaled, and then opened her eyes.

She probably had a chance to at least be qualified to be chosen, Thorn thought, since her father was a noble with a moderately good reputation. Through, the same could be said for many others. And even if she did get chosen, would she chosen for the other princes?

They weren't bad cats of course, but still...

She didn't like the other princes the way she liked Yew; she knew her chances of being chosen were very slim nevertheless and yet she still hoped she could be chosen to be his mate.

She took a shaky breath. Oh stars, he was the prince. 

(Furthermore, she knew next to nothing about the process except being in good health and having good reputation - which Thorn had. But she knew nothing else about the process. Nothing about the ceremonies or anything. There was nothing about her that was particularly noteworthy other than perhaps her ability to avoid spreading the tasteless rumors that some of the elder mollies gossiped about on their free time. And the only cats that cared about that were her parents, who had simply said, "Good for you, avoiding those disgraceful mix breeds.")

Sighing, she decided to begin heading back to the noble's section of the kingdom and headed to the cobblestone path that lead there. The eroded stone felt smooth under her paw pads as she trotted down the road, feeling the warm sun shine down on her. She changed direction, heading towards the black stone that was the path to the noble's town. 

She really loved him.


End file.
